STROMBERGBRAND UMBRELLAS The Color Flip Inverted Folding Umbrella

Product Information

It is heavier, but it's significantly shorter, and can easily be stowed in the water bottle pocket of a backpack (it just might stick out a bit). The 'Flip Compact Tough' is an extra strength, double layered Automatic, bag or Pocket sized Umbrella with many of the benefits of its bigger sibling and a few more! I would have expected it to be even lighter than our stick umbrella pick from Davek, but alas, it's a little heavier. Our digging also revealed there’s a startling similarity and positivity in supposed owner reviews (we’re on record as being skeptics of this phenomenon). If you can’t face splashing out quite so much to stay dry, the Totes auto open/close umbrella is an impressive hard-wearing alternative that won’t let you down, and the Senz large is seriously good if you’ve just had enough of the wind.

You’ll be in good company if you choose a Fulton – the family-run business was founded in 1956 and its umbrellas were used by Queen Elizabeth II, and now the King and Queen Consort, because even royalty can’t escape the British rain. It comes in plain navy or black, or black trimmed with either lavender, green or pale blue, and has a leather wrist strap, handy clip for attaching to a bag and a smooth ergonomic handle. At about a foot long, it doesn't take up much room in a backpack, and the wooden handle is a nice touch; its generous size offers a comfortable grip. The handle is super comfortable to hold, and the genius half-zip case meant we didn’t have to wrestle trying to put it back in its sheath.It just feels airy and bright and is a great counter to the grim and moody atmosphere of rainy days. It was also the only umbrella that elicited comments from other New Yorkers: One person excitedly told James all about his own Solo, which he’d had for years. It can’t be folded and tucked into a bag, of course, but you’ll want to keep this umbrella swinging proudly from your arm anyway. This is purely anecdotal, but whenever I've used a more expensive umbrella, I've always been more conscious about grabbing it before leaving a party or restaurant than the cheaper ones.

The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. But we don’t recommend ultra-compact models: Though banana-sized umbrellas do exist, their canopies are often too small to be effective. There are clear umbrellas for weddings, lightweight umbrellas for kids and windproof umbrellas that won’t have you shamefully trying to pull them right-side out. The Mini has been my go-to when I take my dog out on walks, and I frequently stow it in my luggage on trips. It’s strong, featuring reinforced polymer ribs of steel for extreme strength and a vented canopy, so never felt like the thing was going to collapse in on us in high winds.Instead of closing towards you, the umbrella canopy folds away from you, meaning water gets trapped inside of the canopy instead of dripping all over you and your things. During our blizzard tests, however, as hard as Sarah tried, she couldn’t get this umbrella to flip inside out. Despite its low cost, it still has thousands of positive reviews highlighting its appearance and compact size. Updated October 2023: We've added the Hatley Kids' Umbrella and several ShedRain umbrellas, including the Vortex V2 Stick Umbrella, Mini Manual, AOAC Compact, Stratus Manual Stick, and Auto Open Jumbo Compact. After more than a year of use, parts of the inner frame are rusting and the Velcro on the canopy strap is starting to fray.